The District of Hope recently applied for provincial and federal infrastructure grants to upgrade the Pollution Control Centre (PCC). The system is currently running on a grandfathered operating certificate that doesn’t necessarily match modern day regulation standards.
“It’s very likely that the current operation of the PCC will not be allowed under the grandfathered certificate in the future,” said Mayor Wilfried Vicktor. “It’s more than likely that regulations will be more stringent in the future — the District should be prepared to conform to updated standards.”
It was decided by the majority of council as an appropriate course of action at a special meeting, based on a report provided by Opus DaytonKnight Consultants Ltd.
The report outlined the stages and cost of projected short-term and long-term system upgrades to deal with specific issues affecting treatment performance.
According to the detailed report provided by Opus DaytonKnight, for the PCC to stay abreast of modern regulations, a new dish filtration system and a UV treatment system were recommended.
The District agreed to go ahead with the suggested upgrades as well as the more immediate concerns outlined by the company, which stated “the aeration diffusers and flow control distribution boxes that allow for lagoon cell isolation are beyond their design lifetime and in need of replacement.”
The company projected that a “major process expansion” was required to meet federal and provincial regulations over a 20 year design life.
The total of the upgrades is estimated at approximately $2.4 million and with the application for federal and provincial infrastructure grants firmly in place, the District would only have to absorb less than one third of the costs.
“There are reserve funds available for this purpose — it’s not politically flashy, but it’s mandatory. Pollution control is a core service,” said Vicktor.
